Pop still dreams of being late to class

He’s reached the pinnacle of his chosen career field, winning four NBA championships while establishing the Spurs as the most consistent franchise in North American professional sports.

Deep down, however, Gregg Popovich is still just a cadet at the Air Force Academy hustling to make it to class on time. The revelation he still dreams about it more than 40 years after graduation is just one of the numerous interesting insights in his Q&A with the Colorado Spring Gazette. Pop as aspiring skier — who knew?

Grading himself as a cadet:

Let’s say I was average, at best. And that’s probably being kind to myself.

How he ended up at the Academy:

On the catalog, on the cover, it had a picture of a guy skiing. I didn’t think about that being during basketball season, so that was pretty dumb on my part.

The rigors of academy life:

They said, ‘They’re going to yell at you.’ I thought, ‘That can’t be true. Me? Why would anybody yell at me?’ I found out.

What he learned:

I entered a young wise guy and I left a little more mature, knew what my strengths and weaknesses were, learned about organization and discipline and the honor code.